Traits are a War-steed's main method of advancement. As your steed levels, it gains points which can be spent towards traits to increase the abilities of steed and rider, and in some cases earn additional mounted skills.

Traits Panel

Your War-steed's Traits can be viewed on the "Traits" tab of the Mounted Combat UI (Shift-M).

The five green traits across the top of the traits panel are the stat traits, which increase your War-steed's attributes. These five traits are identical for all three steed types.

Below the stat traits are three trait trees, in red, blue, and yellow. These traits are different for each of the three steed types, although a few traits will appear in more than one. For example, the trait Long Reach is offered to all three types at the top of the red tree, but Tactical Genius is only available to a Medium War-steed.

To change steed type, use the drop-down menu at the very top of the Traits panel to select "Light", "Medium", or "Heavy".

Down the right side of the panel are multiple Trait Specs. Two are available automatically, and additional specs can be unlocked from the LOTRO Store. You can save multiple trait set ups and switch between them on the fly, at no cost. Switching to a different Trait spec will dismount you from a War-steed.

To reset your allocated trait points, click the Refund Points button at the bottom right of the panel. This will charge in-game gold to reset all of the points for a single trait spec. The cost for a reset varies depending on the number of points which have been allocated (more trait points to reset means a higher gold cost).

War-steed Attributes

LOTRO Expansion, Patch or Update This article needs to be updated with current information. Please utilize both in-game sources and the official patch notes.

A War-steed begins with a set of attributes. The initial values depend on the steed type (Light, Medium, or Heavy). The table below shows these initial values.

These attributes are increased in two ways: assigning points into the War-steed's traits, and some are increased by equipping and levelling up a Legendary Bridle. The War-steed's level does not affect its stats.

Trait Trees

The three trait trees group the traits by their function. Although the exact traits vary, the trees follow roughly these categories:

Red tree: increases damage capability

Blue tree: bolsters defence and survivability

Yellow tree: class-specific traits and skills

To apply points to earn traits in a trait tree, you must start at the top trait and continue along the path of the arrows. At the very bottom each tree has a capstone trait, which applies an effect (such as a bleed or an increased effect duration) only when a particular mounted discipline is active. The disciplines correspond as follows:

Red capstone: Red Dawn

Blue capstone: Rohirrim

Yellow capstone: Riddermark

The Yellow tree is the same across light, medium, and heavy steeds except for the capstone trait.

In the following trait tree diagrams, traits marked with an asterisk * will unlock a new mounted skill.